The Gospel Makes Demands
“The Gospel Makes Demands”
Eph. 4:17-32
INTRO
The Bible was given to us to be obeyed, not just studied. Paul was saying that because of what Christ has done for us “Here is what we should do for Him.” We are to be “doers of the Word” not just hearers. We are to walk in “newness of life” not walk in the same old ways.
Christianity makes moral demands upon us. We can’t live any ole way we want. We have a standard and a model in Christ and in the Gospel. There is a right way and a wrong way for a Christian to live. We should think right, talk right and act right.
I. THINK RIGHT vs 17-24
1. We should never think that the New Testament is better than the old Testament because it has no “Thou shalt nots.” Part of thinking right has to do with not thinking wrong.
2. As a Christian we are to be different as we walk in newness of life.
3. We are NOT to walk as the godless gentiles walk. They walk in the futility of their minds. Sin has blinded them to truth. They have a warped understanding of things.
4. They have become hard hearted. They are calloused and have allowed sensuality and the world to corrupt their way of thinking.
5. They are controlled by evil desires and selfishness. They have become ignorant of truth and are not able to understand.
6. They way to think right is by laying aside the old self and putting on the new self (22-24). As a man thinks in his heart so is he- Prov. 23:7.
ILL> Lazarus took off his grave clothes because he was alive when he came out of the tomb. We should not keep thinking the old ways but the right ways.
The Gospel demands that we do more than just think right. We also must:
II. TALK RIGHT vs 25-29
1. We should not lie but tell the truth. A lie is a statement contrary to the facts. We can give someone wrong information and it is not a lie. For example if we give someone the time and our watch is wrong and we don’t know it is wrong, we have not knowingly lied even though we were wrong. If I tell you the wrong time on purpose so you are late then that is a lie.
2. Satan is a liar. He tells us things that he knows are not true as if they were true. He wants us to be liars.
3. Christians are to speak the truth in love.
4. We are not to speak angry words. We should always think before we speak. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.
5. No unwholesome word should come out of our mouth. We should only speak words that are helpful, that build up and edify. Words of grace.
6. We can become bitter or we can become better.
The Gospel demands that we not only think right but that we also talk right. There is one more demand that the Gospel makes of us in this text. We must:
III. ACT RIGHT vs 30-32
1. There should be a difference between the way Christians act and nonChristians.
2. We must be careful because our actions can betray our words. Vs 28 says we should work rather than steal.
3. We should be kind, courteous and compassionate with others. We should be more concerned about others than about ourselves. We should love other more than ourselves.
4. We should forgive others even if they don’t deserve it just like the Lord forgave us.
5. If we really have an understanding of grace and what God has done for us then we are going to want to live and act right because we want to please Him.
CONCLUSION
The Gospel is Good News. Sin demanded a perfect sacrifice. Jesus met that demand. The Gospel demands that we think, talk and act right.
The Gospel must affect the way we think, talk and act or the Gospel hasn’t really changed us.
H.G. Wells said, “If there is no God, nothing matters. If there is a God, nothing else matters.
The demands of the Gospel are more than fair in light of our salvation.